Detection of opiates in urine by means of thin-layer immunoassay.

The use of thin-layer immunoassay (TIA) for the direct detection of opiates in unextracted urine is described. This novel immunoassay is capable of detecting less than 1 ng of opiates, rapidly and inexpensively, without the use of radioactive materials or sophisticated analytical instrumentation. The method was evaluated in a study of 68 post mortem urines and found to be reliable for the detection of opiates in this type of sample.